Featured Interview With Gerald Hogg
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am originally from Bedford in England but I grew up in Middlesbrough. I spent most of my life working as a chef on cruise ships and hotels and restaurants around the world. I have lived and worked in ten different countries including, Jamaica, Bermuda, Australia, The Falkland Islands, The USA, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and The Philippines. I retired to Thailand four years ago with the intentions of becoming an author in my retirement and I currently live on the island of Koh Samui.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
The first books I remember reading were the Just William series of books by Richmal Crompton. As I matured I read everything Charles Dickens wrote and all of The Hobbit series of books by J. R. R. Tolkien, I also loved Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. My daughter was born in 1974, and as she grew older I would read Watership Down by Richard Adams to her at bedtime. Looking back now it was probably a little scary for a little girl, but she loved the book as much as I did. Being at sea for much of my life, books were an important source of entertainment in the few leisure hours that you get working on a ship. I would read everything that I could get my hands on, from Agatha Christie to Ernest Hemingway, from Nevil Shute to Leslie Thomas. I don’t think any author actually influenced me; I just loved losing myself in a good book.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite authors of today are James Lee Burke, Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane, Kate Atkinson, and Khaled Hosseini. I also like to read any travel-related books especially anything by Michael Palin and Bill Bryson.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The last book that I published was; Thai Died…Murder in Paradise (Coronavirus has arrived in Koh Samui but so has another killer). I started to write the book in March of last year when I was in self-isolation after I contracted the coronavirus while visiting China doing research for a new travel book I was at that time considering writing. While I was in lockdown and seeing the effect the virus was having on the world I decided to write a suspense novel that was centred on Covid-19 that would highlight the difficulties and frustrations that any police force would face when trying to solve a major crime during the worse pandemic in over 100 years, at a time when most of the population, except for essential services were told by their governments to stay home to stop the virus from spreading. The book is the first book in the series featuring Police Lieutenant Chai Son Sinuan of the Royal Thailand Police, an incorruptible police officer in a police force that is deep-rooted in corruption. Thai Died is one of the first Covid-era crime novels to be released.
I am now busy writing the second book in the Thai Died series of books that feature Lieutenant Chai Son Sinuan Thai Died…Bar-Girl,
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